ǫxull

Forms

ǫxull m (genitive ǫxuls, plural ǫxlar) (strong a-stem)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *ahsulaz (“axle”),^[2][1] a derivative of the noun seen in Old English eax and Old High German ahsa (“axle”).^[3][4][5] Related words outside Germanic are Latin axis, Ancient Greek ἄξων (áxōn), Lithuanian ašis^[4] and Middle Irish ais.^[6] Köbler traces them to Proto-Indo-European *aḱs- (“axis”);^[2] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon and Torp relate them to aka (“to drive”) and akr, with a first meaning “something that moves, turns”.^[6][5] The same suffixed stem gives ǫxl “shoulder”.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Cleasby and Vigfússon quote the word in Konungs skuggsjá and in a text where the heavens turn sem hvel um öxul “like a wheel about its axle”, so that it also served for an axis.^[7][8] It continues as Icelandic öxull, Swedish axel and Danish aksel.^[6][4]

For English axle the sources differ: Falk and Torp take axle-tree from Norse,^[3] Etymonline derives Middle English axel- from a combination of Old English eax and the Norse word,^[9] and the MED gives Old English eaxl and only compares Norse ǫxl.^[10] Cox rejects a Norse source for Scottish Gaelic aiseal “axle”, since Norse /ks/ would have stayed /ks/ in Gaelic.^[11]

Timeline

• 1630s – English axle, from Middle English axel-.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. an axle; also the axis about which the heavens seem to turn.^[12][7][8]

Word family

• ǫxultré

Descendants

• Icelandic öxull^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk aksel^[1]
• Norwegian Bokmål aksel^[1]
• Old Swedish axul^[1]
• Swedish axel^[1]
• Old Danish axul^[1]
• Danish aksel^[1]
• Middle English axel (→ English axle)^[9][3]

Related words

• ǫxl
• aka

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
3. ^ a b c Falk, Hjalmar; Torp, Alf (1910–1911), Norwegisch-dänisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg, p. s.v. aksel
4. ^ a b c Hellquist, Elof (1922), Svensk etymologisk ordbok, Lund, p. s.v. axel
5. ^ a b Torp, Alf (1909), Wortschatz der germanischen Spracheinheit (Fick, Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen, 4th ed., vol. 3), Göttingen, p. 8
6. ^ a b c d Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. öxull
7. ^ a b Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 769
8. ^ a b Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. öxull
9. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
11. ^ Cox, Richard A. V. (2024–2026), Old Norse Loan-Words in Scottish Gaelic, Clann Tuirc, richardavcox.scot/ONlwSG, p. s.v. aiseal
12. ^ Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. öxull